EXCLUSIVE: 5 years later: Justice after George Floyd? Tou Thao speaks from prison
"But for Derek being born white, we'd all still be patrolling the city of Minneapolis," said former officer Tou Thao, sharing how difficult it's been to miss his kids' childhood and "never get it back."
(Alpha News — Dr. JC Chaix, May 12, 2025)
May 25 marks five years since the arrest and death of George Floyd and the riots that followed. Yet much of the truth remains to be told about the George Floyd incident and the aftermath.
As corporate media will try to remind you about “the most infamous racial murder by police in the history of our country,” Alpha News remains committed to reporting the facts.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media are still talking about the viral video “that we all saw”—while ignoring much of the evidence on the police bodycam videos. They also seem stuck on focusing on former officer Derek Chauvin—while still trying to ignore so many other facts and inconvenient truths.
If the past is any indication of the present, the fact that Black officer Alex Kueng and Hmong-American officer Tou Thao were also involved in the incident will likely be little more than a footnote.
However, amid all the rhetoric about race and reconciliation, Alpha News senior reporter Liz Collin shares a conversation with former officer Tou Thao—the former partner of Derek Chauvin.
During the struggle, Thao called for an EMS ambulance—code 3—to get help for Floyd as quickly as possible during the incident on May 25, 2020. It’s an inconvenient fact that many politicians and the media still try to avoid.
Ultimately, Thao was convicted of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to nearly five years in prison. He is scheduled to be released later this year in November. Calling from prison, Thao told Collin about his faith and what he thinks really needs to happen for justice to be restored.
Collin also spoke with Sheng Thao, Tou’s wife, who shared her perspective about life without her husband and how it’s affecting their kids.